The Sandpits

The next day, Rias started heading toward the town square. It was rather close to the temple, so it could help her build an internal map for the events to come. Looking around, she found what she needed, the town information broker's shop. While the prevalence of DevilNet has eliminated the need for this profession in the main host of the Ars Goetia, that need is still required in the untamed sin lands. There may be some level of spy network here set up by the different pillar families, but they barely able to retrieve even one percent of the critical intelligence they needed to make decision regarding this continent.

Walking inside, she stepped toward the man at the counter.

"Hello, I'm looking for information on the sandpits and hopefully a good map of the area I can download to my terminal." She really missed her old devil phone. It was more technologically advanced, but keeping it would likely have been asking for her parents to find her, especially with the coordinate transmission embedded in all the devices. The terminals by comparison are made more for field use and are built with efficiency in mind.

"No problem, I'll look that right up. That'll be 50 devil dollars." He stated while grabbing a small USB stick, sticking it into his laptop and searching for the requested information. "Though I'm impressed someone as young as yourself has the mind and power to be a traveler" he stated as he looked at the traveling demon.

"The notion of freedom drives those who seek it to accomplish many things they otherwise wouldn't. I am no exception." She stated while nodding.

"True, but I should point out that the four satans appear to have set their eyes upon this land far more frequently in the last ten years, especially after the disappearance of one their family members. If you don't seek their attention, I would be careful young Gremory".

Smiling, she looked down towards her feat as if in contemplation. "I appreciate the heads up, but it is Pandemos now. I've left that life behind".

"I may not be a seer like your ancestors supposedly were, but based on the information I have on hand, I can confidently say that you will have to face your family very soon". The man said with a small grimace.

Ria's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean".

"What I mean is that the Gremory and Phenex families plan on wedding you to Riser Phenex at the end of next month legally with or without your presence."

"What!!" Power erupted as her rage brought her dormant power to the surface.

The broker felt it almost immediately and fell to the ground, an ocean of demonic pressure pressing on his shoulders. Gasping for air, he found that he couldn't breathe. Every breath of air was a struggle for survival.

So caught up in her rage, Rias didn't seem to notice his plight.

"Pl…ease....st…op" The man barely managed to get out as the light began to fade.

Quickly noticing his plight, Rias reigned in her enormous pressure.

"I'm really sorry. I lost control of myself there" He smiled at her attitude. It was rare that you find young devils willing to feel sorry for their actions, especially those as powerful as the one standing in front of him. Mid-ultimate level would be a conservative estimate.

"Don't worry about it" Leaning on his counter, he slowly got up. "This is a risk of the profession. Critical intelligence has the propensity to bring out this kind of reaction. It's why this building is built to contain the demonic energy that's emitted in those instances. Though, they barely stood up in this case" he laughed "if you had kept going like that though, they certainly would have failed. It looks like I'm going to have to reinforce them going forward.

"Consider that last bit of intelligence on the house" he smiled as he pulled out the USB from his laptop and handed it to her "from one concerned parent to a troubled young woman".

"Thank you very much" She deeply bowed and set 50 devil dollars on the table along with a glowing red gem. "You can also use this to reinforce your wards up to the high ultimate level".

"Your very welcome. Good luck with your journey". Nodding her head, Rias walked out the building towards the gate of the settlement. She needed to take care of this Diodora business quickly, so she can start considering her plan of action regarding the wedding. She didn't want to get distracted from her immediate priority, saving that young priestess.

The Sandpits

Arriving at what appeared to be a deep cavern located a few miles southeast of town, she shook her head at the disturbing vibe she was getting. It wasn't anything physical. If anything, it was likely to be her prophetic power warning her of what she should expect going forward, an evil so great that it would make the original pillars shake with rage.

Walking in, she gripped her nose as she noticed a musty scent in the air. Odd considering the nature of this place. Even with her trained nose, to smell something like that this far would require excessive and consistent physical activities; based on her earlier vision, likely sexual in nature.

One thing she noticed was the lack of sand. It wouldn't be a bad idea to ask how this location was named in the future. Lifting her hand, she summoned a delayed summoning tag to bring her brother to this location. While she may not want to interact with him, she would need him to witness this atrocity to avoid raising the ire of Satan Beelzebub.

As she approached what looked like a small clearing she crouched low and slowly paced closer to a get a better look at what's going on. What she saw was horrifying.

Holy ladies clearly wearing articles of the church were chained up by their limbs in various configurations. Most of them were barely conscious, dead in both mind and spirit. It seemed like the rumors were true, Diodora had a fetish for holy maidens.

Looking at the scene in front of her, it made sense why no one could ever find enough evidence for a conviction. He conducted his operations on another continent entirely, one that most devices detested being on. What made it worse was that if this were discovered by the wrong person, a war could be on the horizon. Holy maidens were symbols of the faith. To violate them in this way is considered one of the highest insults to their entire organization. Zealots would be crying for blood.

Sighing, she realized that her brother would need to know. He needed to deal with this before it got discovered by the wrong person. It's a good thing she had the summoning tag or this would be a problem for her.

Grimacing, she placed the delayed summoning tag down and set it for 1 hour. That would give her enough time to go about her business and get back to town. Considering the drama stirring up at home, it may not be a bad thing to get discovered around this time. She needed to remove that stain on her life before it became legally binding. Whether she acknowledged it or not, society would and she had too much pride to let that stand.

As she started walking toward the entrance, she noticed a silhouette walking toward her from outside the cave. Frowning, she noticed that the shadow matched the blond-haired man she saw in her vision the previous day.

"I know you're there Rias, so don't even try to hide!" He shouted as he walked around the corner and neared her position. "You should be careful of alarms."

"You're a popular guy Enki. Your name was brought to my attention as soon as I entered this town as a misfit" She frowned and glanced behind her at the clearing she was previously in. "Though, it looks like those guards didn't comprehend the magnitude of your debauchery".

"We're devils Rias." He smiled. "Sin is in our blood. These maidens should be proud to receive our loving devotion"

Her eyes narrowed. "Loving devotion? If that's what you think, then you're more far gone than I initially predicted".

"Enough talk bitch!" he shouted as demonic power began to fill the cavern, his ire clearly manifesting as a crushing pressure ready to consume all around it. "You'll understand very soon just how loving we can be. A failure like you, who ran away from her own responsibility, could never escape from someone of my caliber! That's especially so on this continent where teleportation magic is a restricted as it is!" He clearly had recently broken into the ultimate class and was very proud of that fact.

Smirking she looked him in the eyes. "Who said anything about escaping? I don't need to escape from someone at your level."

She said as a pitch black and violet demonic power shaped into a thin sword in her right hand. Eight fist sized spheres hovered in a circle behind her, clearly for distance support.

"Seems someone needs to learn their place. Don't worry. We can re-educate you on proper manners after a little bit of discipline!" He roared as he lunged toward her.

Before he could make it within 10 feat of her though, his elbows and kneecaps were pierced with small bullets of destruction energy originating from four of the eight spheres surrounding her. Before he could get a good grasp of the situation though, a sword was already piercing his heart.

A pain like no other he's ever felt ripped through his being as he felt pieces of his soul merge into the blade. The odd thing was that what was happening to him wasn't a property of the Bael family's power of destruction. His essence wasn't being destroyed; it was being consumed. Before he could think anything else, he collapsed; light faded from his eyes.

Looking down at the pathetic excuse for a man, Rias shook her head and began searching the body. The only thing of note she could find was a small black orb the size of a marble. Although she didn't know what it was, her prophetic power told her explicitly that this item had significant karmic weight and was connected to the temple. Placing it in her storage dimension, she moved to exit the cave. The body of Enki would be needed for her brother to understand the full context of the situation. One of the many spells that devils had access to was a memory retriever that could be used on corpses deceased within 24 hours of death; a useful tool in situations like these. As she exited the cave, she placed a disposable ward she had acquired during her travels. It would prevent entrance of any kind for the duration of a little more than half an hour. A very useful tool for this situation where Diodora might get spooked.